"Pakistan expects a harvest of as much as 23.5 million tonnes against a targeted 25 million tonnes." — File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is expected to export up to three million tonnes of wheat this year after a bumper 2009/10 crop and carryover from the previous harvest led to a domestic market surplus, food minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal said on Thursday.

“We are expecting to export between two million tonnes and three million tonnes of wheat this year, and some wheat has already been shipped out,” he told reporters.

Pakistan in August deferred earlier plans to export 2 million tonnes of surplus wheat after summer floods washed away at least 725,000 tonnes of the grain.

But it resumed wheat exports in January for the first time in three years after the government lifted a ban in December.

US wheat futures clung to near 2-1/2 year highs on Thursday on worries that extremely cold weather in the United States might cause crop kill for winter wheat.

Pakistan expects a harvest of as much as 23.5 million tonnes against a targeted 25 million tonnes, but still leaving enough surpluses for exports.

The country consumes about 22 million tonnes of wheat a year.